If you were to do a marketing profile of food to please the American palate, the specialties of Singapore would be at the top of the list. We love bold, intense flavors, one of the hallmarks of this unique Asian island. If Cantonese can be compared to classic Mozart, then Singaporean is rock 'n' roll.

Chris Yeo realized people would embrace his native cuisine 18 years ago when he opened the original Straits Cafe on Geary in the Richmond District. In the last seven years, he's expanded his empire to Palo Alto, San Jose and, last year, to Burlingame. The menu is virtually identical in all locations, blending the influences of China, Indonesia, Malaysia, India and Nonya, a blend of Chinese and Malay that has evolved over the past 200 years and is considered the "native" cuisine.

Yeo offers more than 30 small plates, a dozen large platters and about as many noodle, rice and vegetable dishes. It's a large menu, but the crew at Straits does a pretty good job on a wide variety of specialties, from flatbread stuffed with minced beef ($8) and crab cakes with mango salsa ($14) to rack of lamb with a creamy mango mint sauce and heavily seasoned saffron rice ($24).

The interior of the Burlingame outpost has an exotic ambience that supports the striking character of the food. Located in what used to be Left at Albuquerque, the 138-seat dining room features an open kitchen, slatelike tile floor and warehouse-style open-beamed ceiling. Yet this stylized industrial look comes across as refined, thanks to a toile-covered wall in the bar, impressive light fixtures and a dominating 12-foot Buddha flanked by flickering red votive candles.

The light wood tables, with their thick, striated grain, look as substantial as butcher's blocks, and the clean lines of the matching chairs add to the contemporary sensibility. Gauzy drapes hang at the oversize storefront windows and soften the hard edges. The dining room can be noisy at peak times, especially since the music is always cranked up, but if you hunker down, it's still possible to carry on a conversation.

The upbeat music becomes a good analogy for Yeo's menu. While the interplay of flavors can be multifaceted, sweetness seems to be the overriding theme, another reason that Americans are predisposed to like it.

Even salads carry this sweet gene, which intensifies with each bite of the banana blossom salad ($9) made with julienned vegetables, fruit and grilled chicken tossed in vinaigrette that tastes like pure sugar cane syrup cut with citrus. Yet it's a refreshing, colorful blend that looks as pretty as it tastes.

The syrupy element is even more pronounced in the honey-based sauce that clings to the blackened hunks of pork ribs ($9), which are falling-from-the- bone tender, and it totally dominates the chunks of crispy fried chicken in the thick spicy lemongrass chile sauce ($10).

I love the rich balance of spices in the butter chicken at Amber India in Mountain View, but at Straits the chicken ($10) is one-dimensional, and the nuances in the creamy tomato sauce are hard to distinguish. It's one of those dishes that is good in small doses, but becomes more cloying with each bite.

Ordering too many of these types of dishes can overwhelm the palate and everything ends up tasting similar. The best approach is to intermingle some of the more subtle, savory offerings such as origami sea bass ($19).

A generous hunk of delicate white fish is cooked in a parchment paper box in rice wine broth flavored with ginger, longan and shiitake mushrooms. The character of the fruit is countered by the ginger's spice and the mushrooms' earthiness.

Although they're served with a sweet-and-spicy chile garlic dip alongside, samosas ($7) offer another needed reprieve, with almost flaky triangles of dough filled with a mash of vegetables. Croquettes ($11), served with the same sauce, feature mahogany-hued patties lumpy with shrimp and kernels of corn. The vegetable tastes canned, but the shrimp pleasantly dominates.

Garlic noodles ($9) with tomatoes, mushrooms, black pepper and basil have that seductive smokiness that comes from a really hot wok; the dish is another option to break the saccharine hold. Another good choice is mee goreng, Indian- style noodles with tofu, potatoes and prawns ($11).

The salads provide another refreshing option, especially a "Caesar" ($9) with romaine, Parmesan and crispy fried salt fish, and a spinach salad ($9) tossed with toasted coconut, lime, shrimp and a sweet-sour tamarind dressing. Our Fuji apple and prawn salad arrived ($9)missing the protein, and it wasn't until we pointed it out that the omission was corrected. It turned out to be one of the best dishes on all three visits because of the subtle interplay of the fruit, carrots, jicama, cilantro and cooling mint washed in a bright lemongrass dressing.

I especially love this fresh contrast with spicier dishes such as the lady finger sambal ($9), in which dozens of still-crunchy okra are stir-fried with chiles and dried shrimp to form a gooey paste that has a stimulating, earthy kick.

However, trying to get suggestions from the staff to compose a balanced menu is akin to being in a foreign country and ordering in an unfamiliar language. While the menu descriptions of each dish key diners into the mix of ingredients, they don't indicate the flavor profile, and the waiters aren't very well versed in describing the food.

The staff also tries to save the dishwasher some work by leaving the same service plates on the table throughout the meal. Your plate can be crowded with oyster shells, bits of spicy basil chicken ($10), rib bones, chicken wings ($7) and pools of plum dressing from the remains of the ginger salad ($9). Before long, it feels like an unappetizing smorgasbord; flavors turn funky as they intermingle with leftovers on the plate. Changing out the plates should be mandatory, but you have to ask.

If you can order one of the messier dishes, such as the delicious chile crab or lobster ($30), which is coated with a thick red sauce, you're pretty much on your own, too. I tried to crack the shell on the black pepper lobster, and my hands were so slippery the meaty claw landed on the floor. I tried to get some wet napkins to wash up, but our waiter disappeared and it wasn't until after I'd finished that she finally brought moist towels and wedges of lemon.

On more than one occasion, a waiter tried to give us somebody else's dish, and even when we asked the server to pace the food, it came in fits and starts, and often not in the most logical order.

On one visit we selected three different wines before we finally found one that was in stock, another indication that the management isn't proactive.

The lackadaisical attitude that permeates the service is one of the most annoying aspects of Straits in Burlingame. However, when I reviewed Straits in San Francisco and in Palo Alto, I noted surprisingly similar problems with service.

I'll put up with just about anything for great food, but in the case of Straits, a staff that knows the menu is crucial. The wait staff should act as conductors in helping diners put together a meal that shows off each dish. Until that happens, the food will continue to reach some pretty notes, but it will never become a symphony.

Wine Gets Short Shrift at Straits, But Don't Overlook Sake

It took four tries to find a wine on the list of Straits Cafe that was actually in stock. Naturally, the less expensive wines were the scarcest, forcing us to open our wallets a little wider.

When we finally found a wine, 2003 Louis Latour Duet ($33), it was served at room temperature, so we had to ask for an ice bucket. On previous visits the red wine, whether by the bottle or the glass, was also served too warm.

Pricing tends to be on the high side, and service is nonexistent. There are some pretty good labels among the 50 selections, but there seems to be no depth of understanding; the list doesn't hold together and lacks a clear point of view. If you really want wine, it might be better to bring your own and pay the $15 corkage.

It seems as if wine takes a back seat to the drinks. Most cocktails cost $9 and include such specialties as a Ginger Drop, Absolut Passion and a lemongrass mojito. Like the food, most drinks tend toward the sweet.

The menu also features sake cocktails and six sakes, two each of Junmai, Ginjo and Daiginjo. If you want alcohol, a mixed drink or sake is the way to go.

-- M.B.

Straits Cafe
1100 Burlingame Ave. (at California Drive), Burlingame; (650) 373-7883.
Lunch 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Thursday; dinner 5-10 p.m. Monday-Wednesday,
until 11 p.m. Thursday. Open from 11 a.m.-12:30 a.m. Friday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-
10 p.m. Sunday. Full bar. Reservations and credit cards accepted. Moderate
street parking.
Overall: TWO STARS
Food: TWO STARS
Service: ONE STAR
Atmosphere: TWO AND A HALF STARS.
PRICES: $$$
Noise Rating: FOUR BELLS
Pluses: Some striking combinations that echo flavors of India, Malaysia,
Indonesia and China. Attractive, comfortable interior.
Minuses: Many dishes tend to be sweet, and without help in ordering, the
combinations can become cloying. Staff isn't well trained and servers aren't
very helpful.
RATINGS KEY
FOUR STARS: Extraordinary
THREE STARS: Excellent
TWO STARS: Good
ONE STAR: Fair
(box): Poor.
$ Inexpensive: entrees $10 and under
$$ Moderate: $11-$17
$$$ Expensive: $18-$24
$$$$ Very Expensive: more than $25
Prices based on main courses. When entrees fall between these categories,
the prices of appetizers help determine the dollar ratings..
ONE BELL: Pleasantly quiet (under 65 decibels)
TWO BELLS: Can talk easily (65-70)
THREE BELLS: Talking normally gets difficult (70-75)
FOUR BELLS: Can only talk in raised voices (75-80)
BOMB: Too noisy for normal conversation (80+).
Chronicle critics make every attempt to remain anonymous.
All meals are paid for by the Chronicle.
Star ratings are based on a minimum of three visits.
Ratings are updated continually based on a least one revisit.